Ross Williams picks out his best bets as the NFL heads to London again for Jacksonville Jaguars taking on the Denver Broncos.
NFL betting tips: London Games
2pts Travis Etienne anytime touchdown scorer at 13/10 (bet365)
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London hosts its third and final NFL game of the season on Sunday and – after the relative treat of the previous two encounters – we haven’t been served up a classic to round things off.
The Jaguars return to their second home of Wembley Stadium for a ninth time, but their fortunes haven’t improved much on their previous trips. The Jags started the season strongly, but four straight defeats have left Jacksonville once again troubling the basement of the AFC South division.
Denver haven’t fared any better either, nursing a 2-5 record and a reputation that has taken a hit due to the disappointing play of Russell Wilson at quarterback and some puzzling decision-making from their rookie head coach Nathaniel Hackett.
Essentially, this game features two teams that are poor overall, but both have areas of obvious talent.
Due to the uncertainty around the availability of Russell Wilson, tipping a result in this game is extremely tricky at this stage, so I’d prefer to focus on one of those aforementioned talented individuals.
It seems to me that the stage has been beautifully set for TRAVIS ETIENNE to explode on his London debut.
The Jaguars running back was a major casualty in his rookie year, missing the entire season with an injury suffered after Jacksonville picked him up in the first round of the 2021 NFL Draft. However, the franchise kept the faith with Etienne and he’s beginning to reward them in a big way.
He’s been accumulating solid performances all season, but last Sunday’s clash with New York showed exactly what Etienne is capable of. The former Clemson stand-out had his first 100-yard game, averaging a massive 8.1 yards on 14 carries for his side. Plus, he broke into the end zone for his maiden NFL touchdown.
He looked like a starting running back to everyone in attendance, and the Jaguars’ brass clearly agreed. Within a couple of days, James Robinson – Etienne’s major competition for snaps in Jacksonville’s offence – was traded to the New York Jets.
With that in mind, this week’s game looks set to be the first time we’ll see Etienne truly unleashed.
For all their faults offensively, the Denver Broncos have a very strong defence, but it specialises against the pass. Only the Packers have conceded fewer passing yards through seven weeks of the season and no team has shipped fewer touchdowns through the air.
The bold head coach would test out Denver’s secondary for himself, and he’d probably wind up losing. Thankfully for the Jaguars, they have a smart head coach in Super Bowl-winning Doug Pederson and he won’t be falling into the trap of asking his quarterback to fight fire with fire.
The Jaguars will commit to the run, where they’ll match up much better against the Broncos’ defence, and this gives Etienne every chance to shine and make a proper name for himself.
With Robinson out of the way and a lack of depth elsewhere in the Jaguars’ running back room, I expect a career-high snap-count for Etienne and this will give him ample opportunity to add a second NFL touchdown to his tally in as many weeks.
Broncos @ Jaguars in London best bets
- 2pts Travis Etienne anytime touchdown scorer at 13/10 (bet365)
Odds correct at 1525 BST (28/10/22)
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